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Should you be sleepmaxxing to boost health and happiness?

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This viral wellness trend may be more hype than substance. March 6, 2025By Eric Zhou, PhD, Contributor If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you know it’s hard to avoid countless influencers touting a concept called sleepmaxxing. Their posts provide tips and tricks to get longer, better, and more restorative sleep. And why not? Sleep is considered a pillar of good health and is related to everything from brain health to cardiovascular health, and even diabetes. But what exactly is sleepmaxxing? And how likely is it to deliver on claims of amped-up energy, a boost to the immune system, reducing stress levels, and improving your mood? What is sleepmaxxing? Depending on which social media platform you happen to be looking at, the recommended strategies for maximizing sleep differ. Tips include: You might also be interested in… Cognitive Fitness Online Course Wondering if you can affect your brain health, memory, and cognitive function? Learn in our course about simple lifestyle changes you can make to optimize your cognitive fitness—and stay mentally sharp! Learn More! Does any research support sleepmaxxing? A thorough search through PubMed, PsycNet, and Google Scholar reveals zero results for the terms “sleepmaxx” and “sleepmaxxing.” But wait — this certainly doesn’t mean that some influencer-recommended strategies are not evidence-based, just that the concept of sleepmaxxing, as a defined package, has not been scientifically studied. But yes, some of the strategies — including one uncomfortable, though popular, choice — lack evidence. Can mouth-taping improve your sleep? TikTok users have claimed that taping your mouth while you sleep has benefits, such as reducing snoring and improving bad breath. A team from the department of otolaryngology at George Washington University was prompted by all of the social media buzz on the topic to review research on the impact of nocturnal mouth taping. Spoiler alert: the authors note that most TikTok mouth-taping claims aren’t supported by research. If you do snore, it’s important to discuss this with your medical team. Even if taping your mouth reduces your snoring, it can’t effectively treat a potential underlying cause of the snoring, such as allergies, asthma, or sleep apnea. Sleepmaxxing or basic sleep hygiene? Many strategies recommended by sleepmaxxers are essentially what sleep experts prescribe as good sleep hygiene, which has plenty of research backing its value. Common components of sleep hygiene are decreasing caffeine and alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, sleep timing, reducing evening light exposure, limiting daytime naps, and having a cool bedroom. You might also be interested in… Workout Workbook The numbers are shocking. Just three out of 10 American adults are active enough to stay healthy and fit, and nearly four out of 10 admit they aren’t active at all, despite reams of research proving that exercise is a powerful preventive, and sometimes an antidote, for disability and illness. Which side of this divide are you standing on — and why? Maybe you’re not sure what blend of exercise is best. Or perhaps you know exactly what you need to do, but your workouts have become so humdrum that it’s harder than ever to dig up the energy to do them. Do you want to jump-start your sputtering exercise program? Or are you stuck on a plateau and wishing you could kick it up to the next level? LEARN MORE While tips like these help many people enjoy restful sleep, those who have an insomnia disorder will need more help, as described below. Melatonin, early bedtime, weighted blankets, and — kiwi fruit? Other strategies suggested by sleepmaxxers are based on limited scientific data. For example: Could you have orthosomnia? The expectation of flawless sleep, night in and night out, is an unrealistic goal. Orthosomnia is a term that describes an unhealthy pursuit of perfect sleep. The pressure to get perfect sleep is embedded in the sleepmaxxing culture. With more and more people able to access daily data about their sleep and other health metrics through consumer wearables, even a person who is objectively sleeping well can become unnecessarily concerned with optimizing their sleep. While prioritizing restful sleep is commendable, setting perfection as your goal is problematic. Even good sleepers vary from night to night, experiencing less than desirable sleep a couple of times per week. You might also be interested in…

Sports Health

Stepping up activity if winter slowed you down

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If you’ve been cocooning due to winter’s cold, who can blame you? But a lack of activity isn’t good for body or mind during any season. And whether you’re deep in the grip of winter or fortunate to be basking in signs of spring, today is a good day to start exercising. If you’re not sure where to start — or why you should — we’ve shared tips and answers below. Moving more: What’s in it for all of us? We’re all supposed to strengthen our muscles at least twice a week and get a total at least 150 minutes of weekly aerobic activity (the kind that gets your heart and lungs working). But fewer than 18% of U.S. adults meet those weekly recommendations, according to the CDC. How can choosing to become more active help? A brighter mood is one benefit: physical activity helps ease depression and anxiety, for example. And being sufficiently active — whether in short or longer chunks of time — also lowers your risk for health problems like You might also be interested in… Aqua Fitness: Refreshing workouts that are gentle on your joints This reports shows you how water exercise works your whole body, lessens impact, is an ideal environment for resistance training, eliminates the risk of a fall, and helps keep bones strong. Read More What are your exercise obstacles? Even when we understand these benefits, a range of obstacles may keep us on the couch. Don’t like the cold? Have trouble standing, walking, or moving around easily? Just don’t like exercise? Don’t let obstacles like these stop you anymore. Try some workarounds. Is it hard to find time to exercise? The good news is that any amount of physical activity is great for health. For example, a 2022 study found that racking up 15 to 20 minutes of weekly vigorous exercise (less than three minutes per day) was tied to lower risks of heart disease, cancer, and early death. “We don’t quite understand how it works, but we do know the body’s metabolic machinery that imparts health benefits can be turned on by short bouts of movement spread across days or weeks,” says Dr. Aaron Baggish, founder of Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital’s Cardiovascular Performance Program and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. And the more you exercise, Dr. Baggish says, the more benefits you accrue, such as better mood, better balance, and reduced risks of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cognitive decline. What’s the next step to take? For most people, increasing activity is doable. If you have a heart condition, poor balance, muscle weakness, or you’re easily winded, talk to your doctor or get an evaluation from a physical therapist. And no matter which activity you select, ease into it. When you’ve been inactive for a while, your muscles are vulnerable to injury if you do too much too soon. “Your muscles may be sore initially if they are being asked to do more,” says Dr. Sarah Eby, a sports medicine specialist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. “That’s normal. Just be sure to start low, and slowly increase your duration and intensity over time. Pick activities you enjoy and set small, measurable, and attainable goals, even if it’s as simple as walking five minutes every day this week.” Remember: the aim is simply exercising more than you have been. And the more you move, the better.

Child Health

Think your child has ADHD? What your pediatrician can do

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ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is the most common neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. It affects approximately 7% to 8% of all children and youth in the US. As the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) points out in their clinical practice guideline for ADHD, that’s more than the mental health system can handle, which means that pediatricians need to step up and help out. So, if your child is having problems with attention, focus, hyperactivity, impulsivity, or some combination of those, and is at least 4 years old, your first step should be an appointment with your child’s primary care doctor. What steps will your pediatrician take? According to the AAP, here’s what your doctor should do: You might also be interested in… Workout Workbook The numbers are shocking. Just three out of 10 American adults are active enough to stay healthy and fit, and nearly four out of 10 admit they aren’t active at all, despite reams of research proving that exercise is a powerful preventive, and sometimes an antidote, for disability and illness. Which side of this divide are you standing on — and why? Maybe you’re not sure what blend of exercise is best. Or perhaps you know exactly what you need to do, but your workouts have become so humdrum that it’s harder than ever to dig up the energy to do them. Do you want to jump-start your sputtering exercise program? Or are you stuck on a plateau and wishing you could kick it up to the next level? LEARN MORE Take a history. Your doctor should ask you lots of questions about what is going on. Be ready to give details and examples. Ask you to fill out a questionnaire about your child. Your doctor should also give you a questionnaire to give to your child’s teacher or guidance counselor. A diagnosis of ADHD is made only if a child has symptoms that are There are ADHD rating scales that have been studied and shown to be reliable, such as the Vanderbilt and the Conners assessments. These scales can be very helpful, not just in making diagnoses, but also in following the progress of a child over time. You might also be interested in… Harvard Health Publishing’s 6-Week Plan for Healthy Eating This week-by-week plan, The Harvard Medical School 6-Week Plan for Healthy Eating, will help you transform your eating habits into a program of nutritious and delicious food choices that can last a lifetime. Applying the latest results from nutrition science, Harvard experts take you by the hand and guide you to create an eating plan to improve heart health, longevity, energy, and vitality. LEARN MORE Screen your child for other problems. There are problems that can mimic ADHD, such as learning disabilities, depression, or even hearing problems. Additionally, children who have ADHD can also have learning disabilities, depression, or substance use. It’s important to ask enough questions and get enough information to be sure. Discussing treatment options for ADHD If a diagnosis of ADHD is made, your pediatrician should discuss treatment options with you. Follow-up care for a child with ADHD Your pediatrician also should follow up with you and your child. Early on, there should be frequent visits while you figure out the diagnosis, as well as any other possible problems. And if medication is prescribed, frequent visits are needed initially as you figure out the best medication and dose and monitor for side effects. After that, the frequency of the visits will depend on how things are going, but appointments should be regular and scheduled, not just made to respond to a problem. ADHD can be a lifelong problem, bringing different challenges at different times, and it’s important that you, your child, and your doctor meet regularly so that you can best meet those challenges.

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